Elaine Louise Colombatto

Elaine passed away on Oct. 25, 2022, at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, CA, with her family by her side, after battling respiratory failure following COVID. She was born on June 29, 1954, to Paul T. Colombatto, a Marine veteran of the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II, and Louise Carbone Colombatto, daughter of famed Berkeley Hills orchid grower John A. Carbone.Elaine grew up in Berkeley with her three brothers in a lively family home adjacent to her maternal grandparents' property, including the historic Carbone Orchid Nursery, on Woodmont Avenue. She attended the School of the Madeleine elementary school in Berkeley and later Holy Names H.S. in Oakland, where she developed many friendships and connections she valued and maintained over the year. After exploring career options at College of Alameda and in the workplace, Elaine embarked on a long and successful career in property management, eventually retiring to manage family real estate interests.In her youth, Elaine loved skiing winters in the Sierra Nevada and sail boarding summers on San Francisco Bay. As an adult, she enjoyed travel and was an enthusiastic gardener, a generous and joyous host for events and celebrations for family and friends, and an avid seamstress. Her many sewing creations included fabric art, expertly tailored clothing for family, and imaginative dresses for her grandniece. She had recently relocated to the Rossmoor community in Walnut Creek and was in the process of settling in when COVID struck.Predeceased by brother Mathew and her parents, Elaine is survived by husband James Jackson, brother Jay Colombatto and partner Gary Greene, brother Rich Colombatto and wife Lyn, nephew Nicholas Colombatto and wife Priscilla, niece Gina Colombatto and husband Louis Campagna, nephew Jesse Colombatto, and grand-niece and nephew, Mia and Michael Colombatto. She will be remembered for her zest for life and her conviviality, creativity, generosity, love, and laughter.A memorial service will be held at the family parish church, St. Mary Magdalen, 2005 Berryman Street, Berkeley, CA, on Saturday, January 14, 2023, at 1 p.m. The service will be followed by a reception for friends and family in the parish's Norton Hall. Interment will be private.